Paper short abstract:

This paper evaluates Abenomics with a focus on the impact on policy machinery for gender equality, namely Gender Equality Bureau. It analyzes whether Abenomics has empowered Gender Equality Bureau with more budget and manpower or simply shifted limited resources from other equality policies.

Paper long abstract:

One of the stunning puzzles in Japan from the comparative perspective is duration of a low level of women in leadership and managerial positions. While promotion of women in managerial and leadership positions in economy and politics is a longtime task in Japan, and the Basic Plans for Gender Equal Society have proposed adoption of affirmative actions to tackle this problem, no effective public policies have been taken until the Abe government. The Abe government adopted the Act Concerning Promotion of Women's Career Activities in 2015 in order to realize a 30 % target of women's promotion to leadership positions by 2020. Yet it is counterintuitive that a conservative politician such as Abe who has been known as a strong opponent to gender equality policies in the mid 2000s took a policy initiative to promote women into leadership positions.

Studies are also divided in evaluations on Abe's Womanomics. Some argue that Abe's policies for Women-Shining Society are neo-liberal economic policy that regards women simply as labor-force for boosting economic development while keeping current gender hierarchy and gender norms intact. Others evaluate more positively, if cautiously, that Abe's Womanomics is de-facto an affirmative action policy that would lead to promote women's status.

This paper, too, attempts to evaluate Abe's Womanomics, yet from a slightly different angle. It focuses on the policy machinery for Abe's Womanomics, namely Gender Equality Bureau in Cabinet Office. It has been repeatedly pointed out that Gender Equality Bureau in Japan lacked resources and authority to monitor and implement cabinet-wide gender equality policies in Japan. How did "Women-Shining Society" that became a primary policy concern for the Abe administration impact on Gender Equality Bureau as the policy machinery to promote women's promotion and gender equality? Has the Bureau been empowered with more budget and manpower or simply overshadowed by Women-Shining Society policies? This paper analyzes the changes in budget, organization, personnel, and policy priority of Gender Equality Bureau to answer those questions.